The Arizona Cardinals Have Given Up

That loss yesterday was embarrassing. 58-0 against a division opponent that we already beat earlier in the year…are you kidding me? I guess that’s the way of the Arizona Cardinals though.

There’s an easy explanation for this…the defense quit (and the 8 turnovers didn’t help, but we’ve come to expect that). What has been keeping us in the games in our current losing streak? Our defense. No matter what, the defense has shown up, every single week, and produced. The offense has barely produced a fart, and that’s only because it was involuntary.

The big news this past week was about Darnell Dockett getting fined $200k for “detrimental conduct”, or, he allegedly spit in Kerry Rhodes face, and disobeyed Horton on the last drive in the Jets game to allow them to score so the offense could get back on the field.

Ugh.

The other recent news was about Adrian Wilson being demoted to base packages and seriously cutting his playing time a few weeks ago before the Atlanta game. I actually agree with this decision, and I support Whiz when he said “it worked” – they had 5 interceptions against the Falcons…the change DID work. Adrian Wilson hasn’t put up ANY effort this year. When he goes in for a tackle, he’s just leaning in with his shoulder and expecting them to go down – he’s not wrapping any one up. I get it, he’s a big guy, and he’s historically laid down some vicious hits by leaning in with his shoulder and laying the smack down, but you know what, his age and his discontent are starting to show.

There are a lot of ways you could come at the Arizona Cardinals situation to make it better, but at this point, it’s looking like they’ve lost the team. When your whole defense just quits on you, on the road, that should send a message through the whole organization. It’s time to make a change.

Whisenhunt will likely be fired in the early offseason (like the Monday after week 17), Rod Graves needs to be replaced, and Russ Grimm, although a Hall of Famer, needs to be replaced as well – our offensive line needs something that he obviously can’t give.

That leaves our best, in house option, at Ray Horton to be the HC. I don’t think that’s the smart decision. I think we need to leave Ray Horton at defensive coordinator. He’s shown that, even in tough situations, he can produce a well structured defense. I’ve heard that Chip Kelly will likely be available after the Fiesta Bowl this year…but why would he want to come to Arizona? Who else is out there? Let’s go after Nick Saban! haha ok…I’m getting ahead of myself.

Beau’s plan for success: coaching staff & offensive line. Everyone will argue that we need a quarterback, but we don’t right now, Kolb showed that he can actually play and that’s he’s pretty tough when being beat on play after play. I wonder what he’s like when he’s NOT being beat on and not having to run for his life because his offensive line couldn’t plug a hole in a free brothel.

One could also argue over the need for a good RB core that can stay healthy, but honestly, I’ll give Ryan Williams the benefit of the doubt – his injuries were both freak accidents – but he’s only got 1 chance left to prove himself to the team. He’s got to stay healthy when Beanie cannot. Beanie will not stay healthy…he proved that in college, and is the reason why he went so late in the first round, but when he is healthy, he’s a great running back.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, start shopping using Larry Fitzgerald and Adrian Wilson as anchors to new player deals and draft picks. Fitzgerald deserves to get his championship, because he’s not getting it in Arizona. Adrian Wilson’s worth may have dropped a bit in the past few weeks, but he could still pull a decent offering in the offseason.

I could seriously go on and on, but I will leave it at that. It sounds so simple to fix, but it’s likely going to be a series of largely complex moves made by the Bidwell’s to right the ship. If only it were so simple as Madden 13 – I delegated all offseason free agent activity, and oddly enough, we picked up Kurt Warner in the offseason and it’s bringing my team to life. True story. Ha!

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Comments

I don’t think they’ll get rid of Wiz this soon. Maybe one more year. But agreed with everything else. Our O line is horrific. You put any QB, ANY QB, behind our line and they ain’t shit. Also, I can see Horton taking a HC position next year. Depends on how vested he is with AZ whether or not he’ll actually take one.